From the Editor

By Michael McBride

The snail in my fish tank hasn't
moved in three days. It did
this once before and I almost
removed it, when, inexplicably,
it started crawling and cleaning the
glass. Pet shop guy says it was only sleeping
for a week. Apparently, once enough
gunky stuff (read, snail food) builds up,
snails go about their business. It would
seem that snails are entirely reactive. Only
the snail knows for sure.

Healthcare organizations are a little
like that reactive. (Oh, whom am I kidding -
they're a lot like that.) The events
following the attack on the Twin Towers
and Hurricane Katrina revealed in the
strongest terms how much of our nation
lacked adequate systems to deal with
mass-casualty events. And yet, though
years have passed, I still hear of major
organizations that don't have in place
adequate disaster-preparedness plans.
How can that be?

Did we learn nothing from those
events? Are we so complacent that we can
go about our business without preparing
for the inevitability of the disaster? Are
you, even now, ignoring the possibility that
your organization may not be adequately
prepared? If so, you're part of the problem,
not the solution, and when disaster
strikes, you'll be partly responsible for the
patient outcomes.

I live in Florida, where June heralds the
start of another hurricane season, so I'm
understandably concerned. I'm wondering
if my local hospital can adequately
communicate with first responders. Is
there a patient-tracking system to prevent
my becoming displaced? Are there bed management
systems, so I won't become
a hallway patient should I end up in the
ED? Are all of the hospitals in my region exchanging medical information across a
network, in case I can't get to my local
hospital? Do I have an electronic health
record to warn caregivers that I'm allergic
to penicillin? (I'm not, but you get
the idea.)

Recently, I attended a tri-county disaster-
preparedness drill in the area where
I live. It appeared to be well organized
and executed. I was impressed. Valuable
information must have been gleaned that
day, which, I hope, was used to improve
the hospitals, the first-responders and
local law enforcement's preparedness and
response to disaster.

In the past year, members of Congress,
as well as those of numerous state
and local governments, have proposed
or enacted a plethora of legislation to
incent the healthcare industry. The future
of healthcare in America will be one of
the top issues of the 2008 Presidential
election. All this, and still some healthcare
organizations appear to be asleep at
the wheel, missing the signs, until they
drive themselves right over a cliff taking
their unfortunate patients along for
the ride - patients who trusted them to
be prepared.

The fact is resources exist to address
all of these issues. The guide you hold in
your hands contains all the contacts and
knowledge a healthcare executive needs
to construct an organization's foundation
of preparedness.

It's up to you, the healthcare decision maker,
to take action and ensure patient
safety. Only you can opt to pursue preparedness.
Only you can learn from past
events and apply those lessons to future
responsibilities. Only you can choose to
be proactive.